VilaWeb: Diplomatic tension between Spain and Belgium: Borrell summons the Belgian ambassador
The is a translation of an article from Catalan newspaper VilaWeb entitled “Tensió diplomàtica entre Espanya i Bèlgica: Borrell convoca a l’ambaixador belga“. VilaWeb publishes some of their own articles in English here.
The diplomatic tension between Spain and Belgium continues growing. After refusing European Arrest Warrants and opening a trial against [Spanish judge] Llarena, a new front has opened in the diplomatic relations between Brussels and Madrid. The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, has called the Belgian ambassador in Madrid to answer questions, immediately after Jan Peumans (N-VA), president of the Flemish Parliament, sent a letter to Carme Forcadell at the Mas d’Enric prison. The Spanish authorities considered that the content of the missive is an insult to the state, according to the newspaper De Tijd.
In the letter, Peumans regrets ‘that democracy in Catalonia has been violently crushed’ and assures that the Spanish state ‘doesn’t meet the minimum requirements for being a member of the European Union’. Peumans is the first politician of note from the EU who has spoken in these terms against the Spanish state. It must be taken into account that recently the European Parliament has set in motion the mechanism to activate Article 7 of the EU against Hungary for the authoritarianism of Viktor Orban’s government.
The N-VA MEP Mark Demesmaeker was the one who handed the letter to Forcadell on 7 September. He also published it on Twitter:
Deze brief van Jan Peumans @vlaparl gaf ik zonet aan @ForcadellCarme in de gevangenis van Mas d’Enric. Ze zit opgesloten voor ‘rebellie’ omdat ze als voorzitter van het Catalaanse parlement een debat en stemming toeliet over zelfbeschikking #absurd pic.twitter.com/i4sX2jc3hf
— Mark Demesmaeker (@markdemesmaeker) September 7, 2018
The Spanish Government has told the Belgian ambassador, Marc Calcown, that it is disappointed by the content of Peumans’ letter. ‘The official letter of the president of the regional parliament is considered an insult to Spain’, Calcoen explained in a report addressed to the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, according to De Tijd, the Spanish Authorities want the Minister to contact Peumans to make it clear that ‘the content of the letter is totally unacceptable’. In fact, the Spanish Government told the president of the Flemish Parliament that the letter was ‘a hositle gesture’.